ÞjóðA Magnfl 6II/4 — gotna ‘of men’
Minn vá sigr fyr sunnan
snjallr Heiðabý spjalli;
nær frák skarpa skœru
Skotborgarô gotna.
Unði ótal Vinða
Ellu konr at fella;
hvar hafi gumnar gǫrva
geirhríð fregit meiri?
Snjallr spjalli minn vá sigr fyr sunnan Heiðabý; frák skarpa skœru gotna nær Skotborgarô. Konr Ellu unði at fella ótal Vinða; hvar hafi gumnar fregit gǫrva meiri geirhríð?
My valiant confidant won victory south of Hedeby (Heiðabýr); I learned of a bitter conflict of men near the Kongeå (Skotborgará). The descendant of Ella <legendary king> [= Magnús] relished cutting down countless Wends; where might men have heard of a greater spear-storm [BATTLE] being made?
readings
[4] gotna: ‘gioruar’ Flat
notes
[4] gotna ‘of men’: This is here taken with skœru ‘conflict’. It would alternatively, as assumed in Fms and Skj B, form a natural phrasal unit with spjalli ‘confidant’, as it does in Arn Hryn 8, and indeed in all instances in LP it is accompanied by a noun or name in the gen. However, spjalli occurs alone in a list of man-heiti (Þul Manna 9/6III), and if taken with gotna in the present context it produces an awkward cl. arrangement and an overloaded phrase, minn snjallr spjalli gotna ‘my valiant confidant of men’.